Drowning
by Keleficent
Summary: He dunked Mabel again, but for some reason, Stan didn't pull her back up right away. She thought maybe this was some sort of long, final dunk. She started to feel a little light-headed. She pulled on Stan's arm to signal she wanted to come up, but he didn't move. She looked up at his face. His face looked wrong. Especially his eyes. His eyes…they were yellow.
1. Family Fun Beach Day

"GRUNKLE STAN!" The kids ran across the pier to greet their uncle they haven't seen in nearly a year.

"Kids!" Stan stepped out of the Stan O' War II with a giant grin on his face. He opened his arms for the kids to run into.

"Did you miss us, Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked.

"Eh, maybe a little."

"Don't let him fool you," Ford said as he joined them on the pier. "He's talked about nothing but seeing you two."

"GRUNKLE FORD!" The kids jumped into Ford's arms nearly knocking them all into the water. He wasn't expecting the kids to be as enthusiastic to see him as they were to see Stan.

"We missed you, Grunkle Ford," said Mabel.

"I've missed you too, kids."

"And we really missed Gravity Falls. I can't wait to go back," said Dipper.

"We'll be back in that crazy town tomorrow," said Stan. "But today is-"

"FAMILY FUN BEACH DAY!" The kids screamed.

"Okay, you two gotta stop this yelling-in-unison thing. It's freaking me out," said Stan.

"FAMILY FUN BEACH DAY!" The kids dragged their uncles down to the beach.

They spent the day swapping stories, building sand castles, and playing in the water.

At some point, Ford went on a tangent about one of his scientific discoveries he made during his sailing. Dipper was completely engrossed, but Stan and Mabel were less than enthused.

"This is what I've had to live with for the last nine months." Stan rolled his eyes.

"Oh, don't pretend you don't love being with your brother. We all know you're just a big softie deep down." Mabel poked his belly.

"Softie? I'll show you softie." Stan leaped for Mabel, and she took off running across the water.

"Ha-ha! Too slow, old man!"

"Old man? Oh, you're gonna get it now, missy!" Stan chased her through the water, both of them smiling and laughing the entire time. He finally snatched her and turned her around to face him. "Gotcha! Now I'll teach you a lesson."

He dunked Mabel under the water multiple times. She laughed every time she came up. Her goggles let her open her eyes underwater, and she could see Stan also laughing above the surface.

He dunked Mabel again, but for some reason, Stan didn't pull her back up right away. She thought maybe this was some sort of long, final dunk. She started to feel a little light-headed. She pulled on Stan's arm to signal she wanted to come up, but he didn't move. She looked up at his face. His face looked wrong. Especially his eyes. His eyes…they were yellow.

She thrashed in the water trying to get out of Stan's grip. He was commanding his arms to let her up. But his body wasn't listening like it was taking orders from someone else.

 _ **Like me?**_

 _Bill?_

 _ **Humans and their need to breathe. It's so quaint.**_

 _Let her up, Bill!_

 _ **It's not my hands holding her down.**_

 _LET HER UP!_

 _ **Is Shooting Star turning blue or is that just the water?**_

 _LET HER UP NOW!_

He released his hold on Mabel. She took in a huge gulp of air and looked at him in confusion. Before she could get a word out, Stan bolted ignoring her pleas to come back.

Stan had to get as far away as possible. Bill was still inside him. He was a danger to his family. But where would he go? Anyone who was around him would be at risk. He had to go where he can't do harm to anyone.


	2. Return

After Mabel explained what happened to Dipper and Ford, the three of them split up to find Stan.

Ford had been hesitant to let the children look alone, but Mabel insisted that Stan was still in control. Plus, he wanted to find Stan as quickly as possible. Splitting up and covering more ground was the best way to do that. Ford told himself that even if Bill was inside him, Stan would never hurt the kids…right?

He kept an eye on Stan after his memories came back. If Stan's memories weren't completely erased, it was possible that Bill hadn't been erased either. He had secretly been researching ways to get rid of Bill should he turn up and came up with a few experiments that might work. But he hadn't seen any signs of possession the past few months, so he figured it might not have been necessary. Once again, Ford had been wrong.

"Grunkle Ford!" Dipper's urgent call pulled Ford out of his thoughts. He ran over to his nephew.

"Dipper, what's wrong?"

"The Stan O' War." Dipper pointed to the sea. Stan was sailing away without Ford. They both knew he had no intention of coming back.

"Oh my god." Dipper was even more panicked now.

"What is it?" Ford saw that Stan wasn't the only one going out to sea. Mabel was swimming after the Stan O' War II way past a safe distance from the shore. "Mabel…"

Ford and Dipper ran to the edge of the pier. Dipper was about to dive in after his sister but Ford put his arm in front of him.

"Dipper, don't!"

"We have to go get her."

"You'll drown."

"She'll drown!"

"She's too far, Dipper."

"What do we do?"

Ford did the only thing he could think of. Their only hope. "STAN!"


	3. Crazy & Dangerous

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel screamed at her uncle, who had just untied the boat from the pier and was sailing off. Ford wasn't with him. She knew he was running away from them. And if Mabel didn't catch him, he'll never come back.

Mabel sprinted for the pier. All the while, screaming for her uncle. "Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Stan, come back!"

Stan turned around at her call. Her gave her a sad, longing look. For a moment, it looked like he was going to change his mind and turn back. But instead, he shut his eyes, turned away, steeled himself to go through with this despite looking as though ignoring Mabel's calls were causing him physical pain.

By the time Mabel reached the end of the pier, Stan was already a considerable distance away. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she continued screaming Stan's name in a panic. "GRUNKLE STAN! COME BACK! PLEASE!"

But Stan wasn't turning around. Mabel grabbed her hair trying to think what to do. If she didn't do something fast, she'll never see Stan again.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Mabel dived into the water.

She swam faster than she ever had before. She was going out into the ocean way farther than she was supposed to. She knew what she was doing was crazy and dangerous, but she didn't care. She had to keep going. She had to. She needed to catch Grunkle Stan.

Her muscles cramped the further she went. The boat never got closer, only farther away. The waves grew larger the deeper she went, making it harder to keep her head above the water. Between being constantly forced underwater and her exhaustion, it was getting hard to breathe.

She finally lost the battle when a large wave plunged her underwater and her muscles seized up so badly that even her own survival instinct wasn't enough to pull herself to the surface. She floated uselessly beneath the depths. She was going to drown, and Grunkle Stan was lost to her forever.


	4. Follow You Wherever You Go

Stan heard his family calling to him. He told himself not to look back. It would just make it harder to leave them. But the desperation in their voices compelled him to turn around. Ford and Dipper were pointing at something in the water. Stan followed their lines of sight. It was Mabel, and she was getting dragged under.

"Mabel!" Stan turned around cursing his stupid boat for not going faster. He reached the spot he saw Mabel go under and dived in. He looked around for her ignoring how the salt burned his eyes.

Mabel's eyes were closed. Her arms and legs drifted limp against the current. Her hair slowly danced around her head. It would almost look graceful if death wasn't so imminent.

Stan shot himself to her. He scooped her small body with one arm and used the other to propel himself upwards.

Stan took a big gulp when he broke the surface. But Mabel didn't.

"Mabel...come on, pumpkin, breathe." Stan lightly tapped her face, but she still didn't take the breath she so desperately needed.

He could still save her, but he needed a flat, solid surface. He swam back to the boat making sure to keep Mabel's head out of the water. He pulled himself up the boat and gently laid Mabel down on the deck.

He was thankful to the twins' mother for insisting he learned CPR before caring for them last summer. But it's been so long since his last lesson. He had to remember everything. Any forgotten step could mean the difference between life and death.

He placed his hands on her chest.

 _She feels so cold._

He performed chest compressions.

 _Gently. Don't hurt her._

He breathed into her mouth.

 _Don't leave me, Mabel._

Finally, Mabel's chest shuddered and took a giant gulp of air.

"Mabel…oh, thank god." Stan cradled her head in his hands. He was glad his face was already wet so she wouldn't see he was crying.

"Gr…Gru…" Mabel tried to speak despite her lungs being nowhere near filled with enough air.

"Don't talk yet, sweetie. Just breathe, okay? Take deep breaths." Stan turned her around and rubbed her back so she could cough out the remaining water. "Atta girl. That's it. Let it all out."

"Gru…Grunkle Stan…" Mabel's words were punctuated by coughs. "You can't…you can't go."

In all the chaos, Stan had temporarily forgotten what led them to this crisis in the first place. He backed away from his niece fearing he'll be a threat to her. "I have to, sweetie. It's too dangerous to be around me."

"You're not…dangerous…Grunkle Stan."

"I nearly drowned you."

"Bill nearly drowned me, and you stopped him, I saw. And you saved me from drowning now." With great difficulty, Mabel stood and stumbled towards Stan but was unable to stay on her feet.

"Mabel!" Stan had no choice but to rush forward and catch his niece before she fell face-first on the deck.

"Bill took you away from me once. I won't let him do it again." Mabel was still haunted by a blank-faced Stan not even knowing what her name was. "If you sail away, I'll swim after you again. I'll follow you wherever you go."

Mabel wrapped her arms around her uncle's torso. She held Stan so tightly that even as weak as she was, he doubted he could pry her off if he tried. He knew Mabel well enough to believe she'll follow through with her threat. He was still afraid he was a danger to her, but he couldn't leave her in this state. Especially not after nearly losing her. "Alright, I'll stay. Just calm down, sweetie.


	5. Promise

The next couple of hours passed in a blur. Stan returned Mabel to shore to greet a relieved Dipper and Ford. They all took her to get checked out by a doctor.

But Mabel wasn't the only one they were worried about. Mabel, Dipper, and Ford refused to leave Stan alone in case he ran off again. Stan let himself stay within their eyesight but kept his distance.

They were sleeping on the Stan O' War II tonight before they set out for Gravity Falls tomorrow. Stan, however, had no intention of sleeping tonight. He didn't want Bill to take advantage of his unconscious state to harm the all-too-trusting children sleeping just a few feet away.

Stan waited outside the cabin while Ford put the kids to bed. After a few minutes, Ford exited the cabin and joined Stan on the deck.

"How's Mabel doing?" Stan asked.

"She's tired, but she'll be alright. You can go check on her yourself," said Ford. Stan remained silent, his eyes fixed on the horizon. "We'll figure something out, Stanley."

"Ford, I need you to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"I need you to promise me you'll protect the kids."

"Of course, Stanley. You don't need to ask."

"I mean from me."

"I…yes. I mean, if…you know…he…"

"I'm serious, Ford. You can't hold back. If he takes control again, if he threatens you or the kids, I need you to promise you'll do whatever you have to."

"I…I promise, Stanley." Ford had to pull the trigger on his brother once, he prayed he wouldn't have to do it again. "But I won't let it come to that. I'll stop him. I won't let him take you from me again."

"Heh, you sound like Mabel."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not at all."

"Go say goodnight to them, Stanley."

"But-"

"You need this as much as they do."

"Okay, but only if you're watching."

"It's a deal." Ford realized his mistake when Stan cringed at the all-too-familiar phrase. "Uh, poor choice of words."

Stan went into the cabin making sure that Ford was close behind him. Stan gave the kids his bed wanting Mabel to rest and recuperate as comfortably possible. It's not like he'll need it tonight anyway.

The kids were chatting as they often did before going to bed. Instead of being light and playful, their conversation grim and serious. Their somber expressions changed to delight when they saw him.

"Hey, Grunkle Stan." Mabel was disappointed that Stan stayed on the opposite side of the room.

"Hey, came to say goodnight. So…goodnight." Stan turned to leave.

"Grunkle Stan, wait. Can you tuck us in?" Dipper asked.

"Um, alright." Stan made sure Ford was watching him as he went to the bed carefully like an armed criminal surrendering to the police.

"Grunkle Stan," Mabel put her hand on his arm. "I know you're scared, but it's gonna be okay."

"Yeah, we know you'd never let Bill hurt us. We'll find a way. We always do."

Stan's face was dry now, so he had no cover if he started crying. "Kids, no matter what happens, I want you to know I love you two. And I'd do anything for you."

"We love you too, Grunkle Stan," said Mabel.

"What she said," added Dipper.

Stan hoped they could find a way to rid Bill from his mind once and for all. But even if they couldn't, Stan refused to let this demon terrorize his family ever again. He'll make sure Bill goes down, even if Stan has to go down with him.


End file.
